ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Reducing employee out-of-pocket costs for certain high-value treatments
increases drug adherence and lowers overall health costs for individuals
with chronic diseases, according to new research published today by the Florida
Health Care Coalition.

The paper, Value-Based
Insurance Design: Perspectives, Extending the Evidence, and Implications
for the Future, which was published today in the American
Journal of Managed Care, evaluates the impact of value-based benefit
design on employer health costs and employee drug utilization among
diabetes and asthma patients. Value-based benefit (insurance) design is
a medical benefit plan design that aligns patient cost-sharing with the
clinical value of a health services, providing lower out-of-pocket costs
for proven, high value services and higher out-of-pocket prices for
lower value services.

Among diabetes patients, the Florida Health Care Coalition study found
that individuals enrolled in value-based benefit designs over a three
year period had higher adherence rates for antidiabetic medications,
while overall employer healthcare costs declined. Among asthma patients,
adherence rates for reliever medications among those enrolled in
value-based benefit designs increased during the three year study
period, however, adherence to controller medications stayed flat. Total
employer health costs also held steady for the full study period. These
findings in the asthma population are consistent with previously
reported studies.

“It has been more than 10 years since I helped launch the first-ever
value-based benefit design at Pitney-Bowes and the concept has now
evolved to become one of the most effective population health strategies
practiced by many large employers,” said John “Jack” Mahoney, MD,
Florida Health Care Coalition chief medical officer and lead author of
the study. “With this study, we’ve been able to quantify the impact of
value-based design on two common, chronic diseases so that we may better
understand the specific nuances of these programs and fine tune them for
optimal performance.”

Andrew Webber, president, National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH)
commented on the study: “NBCH has advocated value based strategies in
both benefit design and purchasing as a means for employers to improve
access to high quality care for their employees. The Florida Health Care
Coalition, a NBCH member, has done pioneering work on value based
insurance design for a number of years.” He added: “The results of their
multi-year study presented in this paper deliver clear-cut evidence of
the power of value-based design to decrease access barriers to effective
care. We believe these findings will be of assistance to our membership
as they pursue the goal of high quality, cost effective care.”

This study was conducted by the Florida Health Care Coalition as part of
its mission to educate employers, consumers, health plans and providers
on proven methods and strategies for improving the quality of
healthcare. Initiated under the leadership of Becky J. Cherney, former
president and CEO of the Florida Health Care Coalition, the study
expands the current research base on value-based benefit design.

Data for the study were derived from a literature review of recent
studies on value-based benefit design and drug adherence along with two
new investigations conducted on diabetes and asthma populations at a
large employer. The Truven Health Advantage
Suite and the Truven Health MarketScan
Research Databases, which contain de-identified healthcare claims
data reflecting the real-world medical care of over 180 million unique
patients across the U.S. since 1995, were used to conduct this analysis.
The Truven Health Analytics team was led by Teresa Gibson, PhD, vice
president, health outcomes and co-author of the study. Insurance claims
data for more than 150,000 employees and their dependents were analyzed
over a three year period between 2005 and 2008. Funding for the research
was provided by Merck.

To read the complete study in the American Journal of Managed Care,
click here.

About the Florida Health Care Coalition

The
Florida Health Care Coalition is a non-profit group of employers
from Florida representing nearly two million covered lives. The mission
of the coalition is to educate employers, consumers, health plans and
providers and bring them together as one to help improve the quality of
health care not only in Florida but nationwide. Staffed by a team of
experts in benefit design and population health and wellness, the
Florida Health Care Coalition also counts among its board members
representatives from Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, Universal Orlando, the
City of Orlando, Miami Dade Public Schools, Lockheed Martin, Orange
County Public Schools and many other large employers. For more
information on the Florida Health Care Coalition, please visit us on the
web: www.flhcc.org.